Trigger Warning: Eating disorders

"There she is!" Dean blew into a noisemaker with the year 1998 printed along the front of it as I walked in the front door.

Food littered the table in the dining room. Everything a girl could imagine from cheeseburgers to fettuccine alfredo with shrimp in it. Dean must've called every takeout place within the entire city of Sioux Falls.

"Wow, I should get surgery every day!" I giggled. "Sam picks me up in my Roadrunner, and Dean gets me all the takeout in South Dakota."

"Make sure you save room for the ice cream cake in the freezer," Sam said.

I turned to look at him. "That better not be a joke."

"Serious as a heart attack." Dean stood up and opened the freezer.

Tears flowed down my cheeks. "You guys."

"Come on. No tears." Sam rubbed my back.

"This is just so sweet. Thank you." I wiped the tears off my cheeks.

"Sam made sure we got all your favorites, too. We have orange chicken and fried rice from that Chinese place you like, a cowboy burger with no tomato, red curry with chicken from that Pad Thai place down the road, standard cut fries with some extra salt, fettuccine alfredo with shrimp, cup-and-char pepperoni pizza with extra mozzarella, and root beer with no ice," Dean listed off. "Oh, and a buffalo chicken salad from that healthy place you and Sam like."

Sam sighed then asked, "So, where are you starting?"

I looked up at him with a small grin. "The ice cream cake."

"Told ya." Dean pulled the cake out of the freezer.

After one gigantic piece of ice cream cake, a few bites of the cowboy burger, and a handful of french fries, I was stuffed. 

"I'm tapping." I stacked my plates up and pushed them toward the center of the table.

"That's it?" Dean asked.

"Well, maybe if you'd gotten me a burrito bowl from the Mexican place, I would've eaten more." I stuck my tongue out at him.

Sam chuckled. "You two are something else."

Dean motioned to the table. "All this food and she ate two things."

"Three." I stuck another fry in my mouth. "Besides, it's not like I'm going on hunts. And, I love Bobby, but the man is lost in a kitchen if he has to make more than eggs, and I'm not much better. Leftovers are always good."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. I narrowed my eyes at them. Then Dean slightly shook his head.

I sat up straighter. "Alright, what's going on?"

"I'll clean up the food." Dean grabbed our plates and moved them to the sink.

"Doc said you need to sleep on an incline for the first couple of weeks, so we're going to make the living room your home for a while." Sam stood up. "Why don't you come test out the recliner to make sure it's comfortable."

"No. I want to know what's going on here." I moved to cross my arms, but just ended up awkwardly hugging myself with one arm instead.

Sam squatted next to me. "Melanie, please. I want to make sure you're comfortable."

As much as I tried, I couldn't say no to Sam's puppy dog eyes. Besides he was being so considerate. He would tell me what was going on when I needed to know, right?

I scooted my chair out with a sigh and stomped into the living room. I plopped myself down in the recliner and kicked out the leg rest. Once I positioned myself appropriately, I pushed the back of the chair down.

"Here." Sam handed me a pillow. "Doc said propping your arm up at night will increase blood flow and help healing. If this gets too painful, he said to lay on your right side."

"Thank you." I took the pillow and wedged it under my arm until it was comfortable. "Yeah, I can sleep like this for a while."

"Good." Sam pulled the ottoman over and sat on it. His eyes briefly flicked to Dean in the kitchen before taking a deep breath. "Mel, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Did Dean blow all our winnings on strippers? Because at least half that money was mine." I looked at Sam with a smile, but his concerned expression told me this wasn't a time for jokes. I leaned forward and put the leg rest down. "What's  going on, Sam?"

Sam chewed his bottom lip as if he was searching for the right words. "How tall are you?"

I shook my head. "Why does my height matter?"

"You're about five-five, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, so?" I furrowed my brows.

"Do you know what is considered a healthy weight for you?" Sam asked. I shook my head. "One-hundred-fourteen pounds is the low end of healthy."

"I'm still not following." The blood pounded in my ears. He must've noticed somehow.

"Melanie, are you okay?" Sam asked.

I shrugged. "I'm as good as a girl who has less than a year to live can be."

"The doctors were concerned about you. We're concerned about you." Sam swallowed hard. "When the doctors weighed you before surgery, you were only eighty pounds. They were worried you were being abused."

Tears welled in my eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No, no. Don't apologize. I'm not mad." Sam took my hand. When I met his eyes, they shone with tears, too. "I need to know how I can help you."

"It's so hard." My lip quivered. "I never imagined having to do life without her. She was my sister."

"I know." Sam rubbed my knuckles. "But she would want you to take care of yourself."

I nodded. After a moment, I whispered. "I'm scared."

"We're going to find a way to save you. There's nothing to be scared of." Sam squeezed my hand. "Come here."

I got up and sat on his leg. He held me for a long time while I cried. I realized just how much I was holding back. Once the dam broke, it was like I'd been holding back several years of crying. Sam just hugged me and rubbed my back while I sobbed against his chest. However, I think he cried some, too.

Once I had calmed down, he said, "Will you try to eat better? For me?"

"Yeah, I can do that." I looked up into his warm eyes. Even though they were slightly bloodshot, they were still so kind and sincere. 

He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, but better." I leaned my head against his chest again.

"Want to take a nap?" Sam asked.

"No, I wanna stay right here." I snuggled closer to him.

Sam's chest rumbled under my ear as he chuckled at me. "Mel, this isn't an approved position for you to be in."

I laughed at the inside joke as I lifted my head off his chest. "Fine. Is there any way we can sleep together?" When a smile crept onto his lips, I added, "In a PG way. Mind out of the gutter, Winchester."

"It's hard to think pure thoughts with you around." Sam leaned in and stole a kiss.

I pushed him away with my good arm. "Saaaaam. You're so tempting, but I am tired."

"Okay. Why don't you nap on the couch?" Sam nodded at the couch. "I'll grab my computer and come sit with you." 

"Parting is such sweet sorrow." I sighed as I stood up.

Sam shook his head. "I love you, Melanie."

"I love you, too." I rose to my tiptoes and pecked Sam on the lips before grabbing my pillow and taking a seat on the couch.

Before Sam came back, I was out.

*****

"So, you're trying to make more bullets for the Colt?" I asked as I watched Dean melt down metal. 

"That's the plan. There's got to be some component that we're missing." Bobby poured over the disassembled Colt and referenced it against a diagram in a book.

I quietly munched on some sausage and eggs Bobby had whipped up for breakfast. 

Sam appeared in the hall outside of Bobby's study. "Hey."

Dean looked up. "Hey, what's up?"

"Might've found some omens in Ohio. Dry lightning, barometric-pressure drop." Sam leaned against the doorframe. The way his eyes traced over me, I knew he knew what he was doing.

"Sounds thrilling." Dean looked back at the melting metal.

"Plus, some guy blows his head off in a church and another goes postal in a hobby shop before the cops take him out." Sam stepped into the room. "Might be demonic omens."

"Or it could just be a suicide and a psycho scrapbooker." Dean barely looked up.

"Yeah, but it's our best lead since Lincoln." The glee left Sam's eyes with Dean's dejected mood. I know he wanted to get back out there and look for ways out of my deal.

"Where in Ohio?" This time Dean didn't look up.

"Elizabethville. It's a half-dead factory town in the Rust Belt," Sam said.

Dean pulled a disgusted face. "There's got to be a demon or two in South Beach."

"Sorry, Hef. Maybe next time." Sam's eyes roved over me before he looked at Bobby. "How's it going, Bobby?"

"Slow." Bobby was even more disappointed than Dean. Yay. I get to spend the next week with him while the boys are on a hunt.

"Man, I'll tell ya, it's a little sad seeing the Colt like that," Dean said.

Bobby turned it over in his hands. "Only thing it's good for now is figuring out what makes it tick."

"What makes it tick?" Sam and I asked in unison. Then we smiled at each other.

"Gross," Dean muttered. I smacked his arm.

Bobby just sighed in response. Sam held his hands up as Bobby shot him a look. We weren't close enough yet for him to give me threatening parental glares.

Dean took it as an invitation to tease more. "So, if we want to go check out these omens in Ohio...you think you could have that thing ready by this afternoon?"

"Well, it won't kill demons by then..." Bobby pointed the disassembled Colt at Dean and disengaged off the safety. "But I can promise it'll kill you."

"Come on. We're wasting daylight." Dean turned to leave the room with a big smile on his face.

"Hey, you boys see anything—anything—you call me," Bobby said.

Sam and Dean nodded.

"See ya, Bobby," Sam said. His eyes lingered on me. "Bye, Mel."

I hopped off my chair and walked after them. "Wait, I'll help you pack."

Sam's hand slipped into the back pocket of my pajama bottoms as I caught up to them. I could tell from the grin on his face that he noticed my lack of underwear. My cheeks burned as we started to climb the stairs. Of course, Sam let me walk in front of him.

"Ten minutes and the Impala is pulling out," Dean said before walking to his room.

Despite the warning, Sam closed the door. As soon as the door was shut, Sam's mouth was on mine. His kisses sizzled on my lips. I barely had enough strength to pull away from him.

"Sam, I love you and I want to, but Bobby is downstairs and Dean is right next door," I said.

"Then we'll have to be quick and quiet." During the kiss, Sam's hands had navigated to my ass; a place they were very familiar with. Now, his hands played with the waistband of my pants as he waited for me to object or agree.

I chewed my lip as I looked down at my sling. "Quick, quiet, and gentle."

"Deal." Sam's hands looped in my waistband and pushed my pants down.

~
A/N: Stay tuned for the next one ;)